FAQs

The Healthspan program is for adults* who want to improve their healthspan or longevity. Whether you’re facing health challenges and want to regain vitality, or you’re already healthy and want to optimize your fitness, performance, and longevity, we will meet you where you are and can optimize your lifestyle. From the curious beginner to the advanced or professional athlete, anyone can benefit from the programming Healthspan offers. Healthspan is also a powerful option for those recovering from an orthopaedic or general surgery, helping support rehabilitation and recovery through fitness, nutrition, and accountability strategies designed to restore strength and resilience. Ultimately, the outcome is not just years added to your life, but life added to your years.

*At this time, Vail Healthspan is available only for adults over the age of 18
 

Healthspan complements, not replaces, traditional medicine. Traditional medicine diagnoses and treats illness, injury, and acute conditions. However, it is not designed to prevent or preempt disease and injury. Moreover, health insurance only pays for services tied to a disease or injury. Preventive strategies that help people get and stay healthy, such as nutritional consultation, exercise training, and sleep optimization, are rarely supported by the traditional healthcare model or paid for by insurance. Healthspan fills that gap. We focus on prevention and performance. Instead of waiting for disease to appear, we help you take action now so you can live healthier, stronger, and better for longer.

We start with evidence-based assessments and consultations and then guide you through lifestyle changes proven to improve healthspan–strength training, nutrition, sleep, stress management and behavioral health interventions, social connection and functional medicine–to uncover root causes of symptoms, such as hormone imbalances, metabolic dysfunction, gut health concerns, chronic stress, and inflammatory drivers so we can design a personalized plan to improve your healthspan. Our approach integrates cutting-edge science with lifestyle and nutritional medicine, complementing the strengths of traditional care while offering a more proactive, preventive model.

Traditional medicine helps you when you’re sick; Healthspan enables you to get and stay healthy, avoid getting sick in the first place, and get back on track quickly after illness or injury. 

No. Healthspan is not a replacement for primary care. We complement your existing medical care by focusing on lifestyle factors—fitness, nutrition, sleep, recovery, stress management, and social connection–and recommending interventions to help you live your healthiest life. We work closely with your primary care provider and specialists to ensure a collaborative approach to your health.
 

Vail Health Concierge Medicine is a membership-based primary care program that provides enhanced access, personalized care, and preventive screening through continuous access to a primary care team that provides annual wellness exams and same-day/next-day appointments.

Vail Healthspan builds on these concepts, but with an emphasis on lifestyle transformation to help the patient delay aging, prevent illness before it begins, and raise their baseline of vitality. Going beyond a direct relationship with a provider, the individual will also work directly on the foundations of health: fitness and strength training, smart nutrition, quality sleep, stress recovery, and meaningful social connection. Our program doesn’t just teach these principles; it provides the coaching, accountability, and community support needed to turn them into daily habits, so you can sustain real change and optimize your long-term healthspan.

Our program is designed for adults of all ages who want to invest in their long-term health. Whether you’re just beginning your wellness journey, looking to elevate performance, or seeking a comprehensive longevity program, there’s a track to fit your goals and lifestyle.

We offer three program tracks—Foundation, Elevate, and Summit—each designed with different levels of support and intensity. Foundation provides baseline testing and essential tools, Elevate adds personalized coaching and targeted interventions, and Summit offers the most comprehensive package with weekly coaching touch points and continuous monitoring.

View our program track comparison chart to learn more.

Each Healthspan track is a structured eight-month commitment that takes you from initial assessments through guided implementation and final program review. While the first eight months provide the foundation, Healthspan is not a quick fix—it’s designed to spark an ongoing lifestyle transformation that supports your health for the rest of your life.

After completing your initial track, you can continue your journey through curated programs, workshops, and camps. These offerings will explore specific activities or goals more deeply, giving you new ways to strengthen your unique Healthspan journey.

To get the maximum benefit from the program, we recommend dedicating a minimum of seven hours per week on program goals, including integrating daily movement, nutrition practices, and recovery strategies, supported by coaches and your Healthspan coaches.

The Thrive Assessment is our signature health evaluation that measures key biomarkers, metabolic function, cardiovascular fitness, body composition, strength, and movement quality. This data provides your baseline health snapshot and helps your care team design a targeted plan to improve your healthspan.

Each Healthspan program participant will complete a Thrive Assessment after their initial Mindset Optimization intake. Program progress will be tracked overtime through a Mini-Thrive and Final Thrive Assessment and check-ins with your Healthspan Care Team.

Thrive Assessments include:

• Comprehensive Blood Draw Panel (fasted) a curated Healthspan functional medicine panel, designed to detect underlying risks, uncover hidden imbalances, and provide a foundation for optimizing long-term health.
• Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) Test (fasted) assessing metabolic health.
• VO₂ Max Test a measure of oxygen-processing capacity, and the most powerful predictor of metabolic age and longevity.
• InBody Scan analyzing current body composition.
• Kinetisense 3D Functional Movement Assessment a markerless movement analysis.
• Keiser Strength Training Assessment testing lower body, push and pull strength.
• Dynamometer Grip Strength Assessment assessing overall physical strength.

  Additional Thrive Tests available for our Summit track include:

• Blood Lactate Test evaluating endurance, recovery and performance capacity.
• Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) Coaching closely monitoring blood glucose levels to improve metabolic health and blood sugar regulation.

• Fasting Required: Please arrive fasted overnight (minimum 6 hours) before bloodwork, metabolic and body composition tests. 
• Athletic Clothing: Wear light, form-fitting gym attire (e.g., shorts, leggings, t-shirt). Avoid heavy or bulky clothing. 
• Hydration: Drink water beforehand, but avoid excessive intake right before your tests. 
• Hair Up: If you have long hair, please bring a ponytail holder to keep it off your neck during scans. 
• Footwear: Wear the shoes you normally train in for accurate movement assessments. 
• Phone: Bring your phone to set up client profiles.  
• 7 Day Tracker: Please bring your initial Healthspan 7 Day Tracker, we will scan it into your chart. 

Yes, some assessments require fasting, including bloodwork, resting metabolic rate, and body composition testing. Your care team will provide detailed instructions before your diagnostic appointments.

• Fasted Tests: 
  • PNOE Resting Metabolic Rate 
  • Functional Medicine Blood Panel 
  • InBody Body Composition
• Coffee and light snacks
• Active Tests:
  • Kinetisense Mobility and Stability Testing 
  • VALD Grip Strength 
  • Keiser Strength Assessment
  • PNOE VO₂ Max

All tracks include a final Thrive Assessment at 8 months. Elevate and Summit participants also complete a mid-point Mini-Thrive Assessment for additional data and progress tracking.

Reducing body fat is one of the most powerful ways to improve blood sugar, blood pressure, systemic inflammation, and overall cardiovascular health. Using the InBody* assessment, we track both body fat percentage and skeletal muscle mass over time, giving you an objective measure of how your nutrition and exercise program is working.

It’s important to recognize that fat loss is not the same as weight loss. As you gain muscle, your total body weight may increase—but this is a positive change that supports metabolic health. What truly matters is not the number on the scale, but the combined effect of reducing body fat and building muscle, which together drive lasting improvements in health outcomes.

We acknowledge that body composition can carry emotional and psychological concerns for many people. That’s why we interpret body composition data alongside other health metrics—such as psychological wellbeing, physical performance, and blood test results—so that the focus is always on your long-term wellness and not on a single number.

*The InBody is a state-of-the-art body composition analyzer that goes far beyond a simple scale. In just a few minutes, it provides a detailed breakdown of your weight into muscle mass, body fat, and water balance, showing exactly what’s happening inside your body.

Unlike Body Mass Index (BMI), which only looks at height and weight, the InBody gives a true picture of health and progress—tracking changes in lean muscle, fat distribution, and even visceral fat (the fat around your organs most linked to disease risk).

At Healthspan, we use many assessments and tests to measure where you are starting from, track improvements over time, and help guide your personalized plan. 

Your Healthspan care team (functional medicine, health coach and nutritionist) will collaborate to hold you accountable for meeting your individualized goals through one-on-one meetings and online coaching, group discussions and community events, and tracking your progress to ensure you are making positive changes and that your new lifestyle changes are sustainable into the future.
 

The frequency of check-ins and consultations depends on your program track. Foundation includes baseline and follow-up visits, Elevate adds bi-monthly health coaching and nutrition consultations, and Summit offers weekly coaching, monthly medical and nutrition appointments, and our highest level of team access.

Foundation Track
At this level, you’ll meet with your coach at the start of the program to review your goals and design your personalized plan. After that, your training is self-directed, you follow the plan on your own without day-to-day interaction. Your coach will check in with you monthly to review progress, answer questions and make any needed adjustments to your training plan.

Elevate Track
At this level, you will have weekly check-ins with your coach to review progress, answer questions, and adjust your plan as needed. You will be expected to log your workouts, and provide communication in Training Peaks so your coach can monitor consistency and progress.

Summit Track
This is our highest level of support, with frequent interaction with your entire healthcare team. Your coach will check in with you daily or weekly (depending on your needs), provide real-time feedback, and offer ongoing guidance. Depending on your goals and needs, you are expected to communicate daily or weekly with your coach to optimize your progress and consistency. This is the highest level track with real-time feedback that includes ongoing guidance and accountability.
 

Yes! If you are working with a health coach or following a training program you love, you can still join Healthspan through our hybrid Self-Directed Summit Track. Our Vail Healthspan team will review your current plan and, if it’s a good fit, integrate you into our program.

Yes. All participants gain access to educational workshops, video masterclasses, community events, and, depending on track, tools like personalized training plans, wearables, and sleep optimization protocols.

No, your Health Coach will be programing your exercise remotely through TrainingPeaks. We will offer groups throughout the Healthspan program where we invite you to come join us for an hour a week with our talented Health Coaches.

You can expect a highly personalized, bio-individual approach, meaning your nutrition plan is tailored to your unique biology, preferences, and lifestyle rather than a one-size-fits-all method. Together, we will create realistic and meaningful goals that move you toward optimizing metabolic health through nutrient-dense, nourishing meals. Whether your focus is enhancing metabolic health, supporting performance goals, or both, the program adapts to meet you where you are. Each step of the program is focused on helping you take the next best step—improving food quality, making meal preparation easier, or adjusting meal timing for better energy and balance. You will receive practical, actionable guidance that you can apply immediately so your nutrition feels supportive, achievable, and aligned with your long-term health goals.

We track baseline and final patient data for strength, metabolic health, body composition, recovery metrics, and biological age through the Thrive Assessments. Our goal is to provide measurable, meaningful improvement in the areas that matter most to long-term health:

• Stronger bodies – Increased muscle mass, mobility, and resilience.
• Better metabolic health – Improved glucose control, lipid profiles, and fat utilization.
• Improved recovery – Better sleep quality, energy, and reduced stress load.
• Longevity gains – Reduced biological age relative to chronological age.
• Connection and purpose – A stronger sense of belonging, motivation, and resilience.
• Brain & Mind – Improved sense of self-worth and decreased anxiety and depression  

You will receive ongoing support from a behavioral health specialist throughout the Healthspan program; however, this is not the same as traditional therapy.  The behavioral health specialist will help you clarify your goals, build healthy habits, overcome barriers, and stay engaged in the program experience. The specialist provides mindset coaching, motivation, and accountability rooted in psychology and focused on forward momentum to help you meet your Healthspan goals.

If you are in need of traditional therapy services to work through anxiety, depression, trauma, or other personal challenges, these services are available; however, they are not included in the Healthspan program. Your Healthspan specialist can get you connected with a licensed therapist through Vail Health Behavioral Health or other local providers, many of whom accept insurance. We believe that behavioral support and therapy complement each other and we’re here to help you find the right balance for your goals.

No. Healthspan is only a cash-pay or employer-direct pay program, which means program fees are not covered or billed to insurance. This allows us to focus on proactive, lifestyle-driven care without being constrained by commercial insurance and government payer rules that only cover treatment tied to illness or injury.

Because lab testing is highly individualized and every participant’s needs are different, lab fees are not included in the cost of the program. Some people benefit from advanced panels such as hormone or microbiome testing, while others may only need core metabolic labs. By keeping lab fees separate from program costs, we ensure you only pay for what you need—without inflating the price of the program for everyone.

To keep testing accessible, we have an agreement with Quest Diagnostics that substantially reduces prices for lab panels, ensuring a cost-effective and efficient approach. Most standard labs are covered by insurance, and our arrangement with Quest helps minimize out-of-pocket expenses while still providing access to high-quality results. Once your lab results are available, our providers spend the time needed to interpret and explain your labs to make the results actionable, not just numbers on a page.

In addition to traditional labs, we also offer advanced functional medicine panels—such as gut microbiome mapping, hormone and adrenal testing, inflammation markers, and cardiovascular risk panels. These go beyond what is typically included in conventional care, helping us uncover root causes, optimize your wellness strategy, and individualize your nutrition, exercise, stress, and recovery plan. By blending conventional and advanced testing, we create a more complete picture of your health while respecting the vital role of traditional medicine in diagnosis and acute care.
 

Not ready to commit to a full Healthspan program? You can book one of our Healthspan Assessments or Packages to gain valuable insights into your current health. Including body composition scans, VO₂ Max testing, or metabolic assessments.

Yes! You can upgrade at any point if you’d like additional support, coaching, or assessments. Please contact our team to see how you can upgrade.